Ekiti Court Sentences Cleric To Life Imprisonment For Raping Minor

A self-acclaimed Prophet, Adeleye Akingbaso, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by an Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti for raping a thirteen-year-old minor.

The 47-year-old convict was arraigned in September 2022 before Justice Blessing Ajileye on a two-count charge bordering on rape and coercion.

The Charge reads that the Prophet, sometime in July 2022 at Ado-Ekiti within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did rape a thirteen-year-old girl.

Also, in July 2021, Prophet Adeleye coerced the victim to engage in sexual acts to the detriment of her physical and psychological well-being.

According to the charge, the offences contradict Section 31(2) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012, and Section 4 of the Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, No.18 of 2019.

In her testimony before the Court, the victim said, “Prophet Adeleye was my mother’s man-friend, who used to come and sleep in our house. One day, my mummy was on night duty; Prophet Adeleye came to sleep in our house at midnight; he woke me up and said I was bedwetting; I said no. He brought out a bottle of shea butter and rubbed it on my private part; that was all I knew. I later discovered I had been raped that night. He threatened me that he would curse me and that I would die if I told anybody.

“On the second day, my mother was not home; he returned to our house. I was in the kitchen, and he told me he wanted to complete what he started yesterday and was trying to rough-handle me, but I managed to run out and shouted for help, and our neighbours came to my rescue. They called my mother and narrated what happened to her. She slapped the Prophet when she came and later reported the case at the Police Station,” she concluded.

The prosecutor, Taiwo Ajibulu Ariyo, called four witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statement and medical report as exhibits to prove his case.

The defendant, who spoke in his defence through his lawyer, Adelanke Akinrata, called no witness.

In her judgment, Justice Ajileye said, “This court has found the defendant guilty on the two-count charge of rape and coercion and convicted him accordingly.

“This will serve as a deterrent to others in the class of the defendant whom the nemesis of law has not caught up.

“On Count One (Rape), the defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment and on count two (Coercion), the Defendant is sentenced to three years imprisonment; both terms are to run concurrently”, she pronounced.